DIY Closet DWC Grow - First grow ever

[Hulk Nugs]

thanks man .... yea its a bummer when you try and hook someone up and you cant. I been having problems with that to so i am trying to spread more around.

 

[jigfresh]

Hey guys. Another day, some more growth, and happy plants.

I picked off a little more undergrowth. It is really really hard to reach the very back corner of the screen underneath. I'm worried I'm going to break a front branch with my head while trying to get back there. It really must be a sight me getting my hand back there between the other plants, my head between branches. haha.

Flowers are coming along nicely. The ones right beneath the lights are pretty dense, and the internode spacing is so tight the flowers have almost run into each other on day 16. The outer shoots (up the walls) their budsites are more spread apart. It's funny I got my extra 250w and it just wetted my appetite. I want more light. I wont get any more this grow, my wish list is too long at the moment. But I think I could swing a 1000w in that closet.

I think I told you all about the saran wrap I put over the pots. It is a lame way of trying to keep humidity down.

Any thoughts from anyone on the skinny branch, fat brach thing? Should I take off the few tiny skinny branches that have a little tip at the screen to save resources for the big thick braches that have many budsite on the screen?

I worked on my light ventilation system a little today. I just repositioned things and shortened up the venting. No more weird unnecessary bends in the ducting (only weird necessary ones).

I'm very proud of my closet, but it is really going to get dialed in after this grow. I'll have the time and space to make everything just right. Plus get the extra space ready, for my extra flower room. I'm excited.

If you didn't see I'm going to add some co2 to the mix. Ghetto bottle yeast method. How many times a day, and for how long should I do the co2? I'm going to try twice a day for around 30 minutes. I'm planning on making hoses with holes in them to shower the co2 down over the plants. I think I will lay the hoses over the screen (co2 is supposedly heavier than air, so it sinks). I'm going to kill the fans for the 30 mins to let it soak in, or breath in ??? The only bummer about most of the things I'm doing is I won't know the effects from each thing. Like the extra bubbles or extra co2, there are no control specimens to compare. Oh well, I'll just have to make due with an ambiguously brought on big yield. Plus I have the rest of my life to experiment and have controls and such. I'm also going to get into seed production in a few years. I'd love to cross stuff, see what I get. Is it natmoon that does that, makes crazy crosses that look all kinds of wild. I think it's him. Either way, natmoon grows some bomb buds and so does the seed guy (be them one person or not).

The first pic is of a White Widow (left) and Hindu Skunk (right) flower next to each other, you can see the difference (maybe).

There is also a pic of my arm in the light that shines out of my cracked closet door. You can totally see the blue and oragne.

Also a pic of Lewis Hamilton. I fixed his pupils in photoshop, not sure if I did a good job, but it looks better than the original where his pupils were green.

 

[dirtystacks]

Yummmm. I'm so jealous! I've never had WW...want to try that strain. I hear good things.

I think I would probably nip those small branches and let the plant put it's energy towards the big ones, but what do I know?

Do the cats try to get at the plants? We have one cat that is always trying to dig into our house plant pots. I had to put some hardware cloth over the pots to keep her paws out. The other cat is always eating one of my ferns.

 

[jigfresh]

I think I would probably nip those small branches and let the plant put it's energy towards the big ones, but what do I know?

Do the cats try to get at the plants? We have one cat that is always trying to dig into our house plant pots. I had to put some hardware cloth over the pots to keep her paws out. The other cat is always eating one of my ferns.

I think like you on the small branches I'm just waiting for someone who has done this once before to tell me it's all good. I may do anyways, we'll see.

And the cats pretty much totally stay out of the way. I think it might be the shear complexity and mass of noises and lights and wind that keep them out, but they really stay away. I feel 100% comfortable leaving the room for 5 minutes with the door wide open for all 9 cats to get at them. But the little cats are good. They are the same as yours with house plants, the only ones we have are way up on bookshelves where they can't be reached. Oh, another reason I think they stay away is I'm not using soil. There is no magnet of dirt to dig. Only one little guy jumped up onto the rubbermaid once, but I let him know it was not appreciated.

Glad to hear from you, hope the planning is going well.

 

[Hulk Nugs]

nice man the screen is coverd in nugs well small ones but they will be big going to be nice to see them grow keep it up

 

[jigfresh]

Thanks my man.

Hey guys. Today is the day. Not because I drained the reservoir and put new nutrients in, and not because I sprayed the Liquid Light + Penetrator, and not even because I changed my HPS and MH positions to spread the love.

Today was the day the Trichs showed up.

I was tucking leaves and I noticed them on a couple flowers, and when I looked closer I noticed them on many many flowers.

My ppm is up to 1850. Lights still 6 inches from tops. The lights have changed places so things will be more even. The right side has had 400 watts for 17 days now, the left side has had 8 days of 250 watts, just left over hps before that. I think I will leave the lights this way for 2 weeks.

I also decided to cut two tiny branches that just weren't performing like their big branch equivalent.

My strain says it is 9 weeks for flowering. Would it be pretty safe for me to guess that harvest will come around 9 weeks after the switch to 12/12? I'm going to cut according to trich color, but I'm just trying to plan/ guess when things will happen.

Thanks for all the help and support guys.

 

[Hulk Nugs]

looking good man nice to hear that your trich.'s are coming in ..... i am not to sure still have to go back and read but i have been saving all my cuttings that look good and freezing them so i can make butter or hash later once i harvest more trimmings the more thc....you should make your girl some good brownies hahaha or pic her somthing up from the clinic for her to eat hahaha that be funny i know she beat you up for it but it would be fun tell then hahahaha

 

[jigfresh]

I know you think it's a funny thought, but dude, my wife is fucking annoying when she's high. Like no kidding, I want to leave the house, hahaha. She acts like the stupid kid who always annoyed everyone when we all were kids. Like an eight year old or something.

I'm sure to some people it would be hilarious to watch her roll around and laugh, but it make me think 'never again'.

I had been keeping everything I took off, but wasn't sure if the stuff was worth anything. I didn't know if you needed to wait for trichs first. I've pulled so much material off these girls. Oh well, I'm sure there will be tons of clippings when I harvest.

I want to get bubble bags to make hash with.

 

[jigfresh]

I forgot to tell you guys that when I was changing the reservoir out, I had a little look at the roots. Not much of a look, I just tried to shine a flashlight and see through a dime size hole. From what I can tell the netting is keeping the roots separated. Also, it looks like about half the tank is full of roots now. Plus the roots I saw were stark white.

Nice.

Question for you guys, are the people that work in your hydro shop total stoners with no sense of attention or responsibility, or is it just me? I swear I have to fight them to let them take my business. I hate it.

 

[Iamtreehigh]

So i just saw that I got some love spread on me so I thought I would come by and check out your grow. WOW! Great setup. I thought about doing dwc for a long time but thought it would be easier to learn with soil...one mountain at a time, ya know? Now that I have figured out how to make them grow decent I'm thinking of experimenting with dwc and this is gonna make it so much easier. I never would have to get a net to separate the roots. I only made it to page 8 then I wanted to see where things are now but I am mos def going to read thru all of this in a few.
And my girlfriend and I are thinking about moving to L.A or San Diego(where she's from) this november. At the very least a week vacation. I guess I know who to go to for dank when I get there.

 

[jigfresh]

Glad you like the grow. And I'm very glad someone got some useful information out of it. That is exactly the reason I type all this shit.

I'm from San Diego too. Little city called Lemon Grove, your girl might know it.

And I don't think you'll have much problem finding bud out here. But you know where I'm at, too.

I'm about to get tree high right now.

 

[smileyman11]

wow this is a nice grow journal i have spent the last 3hrs reading it. I am also from San Diego too. This will really help me for my next grow because this is EXACTLY what i had in mind. THanks

 

[jigfresh]

wow this is a nice grow journal i have spent the last 3hrs reading it.

wow, thankyou. That seriously makes me want to cry.

like I said before, all questions, input, whatever is welcome.

After the whole thing is said and done I am going to make a duplicate journal and boil it down to the pertinant stuff. So even the people who don't like reading as much as you do can get something from it.

welcome.

You must have been sending me good vibes becuase I checked out your group for the first time like an hour ago, should I join?

 

[ganjaboii024]

The electrical is sorta ghetto, but I trust it.

My whole bedroom/ bathroom/ closet are running off one 30 A circuit breaker. There is a 40 foot run with 12 gauge wire from the breaker panel to a junction box where the circuit is broken into 4 branches. On the circuit there are 7 outlets, 5 lights w/ switches. On the branch the closet is on there is only 1 outlet and 2 switched lights. When redoing the outlet in the closet I disconnected the two lights on the closet branch.

So... in the closet there is only 1 outlet, only connected to eveything else at the junction box. The outlet is a regular two space GFCI (15 A). One of the plugs runs the timer, the other plug runs everything else.

So... out of the one plu in that outlet I have an 8 foot extension cord with a 3 way splitter built in. On that extension cord I have the heavy duty (15 A) timer plugged in to one of the three plugs. The other two are unused (i plan to use one to power the dehumidifier 24 hours). Plugged into the timer is another 3-way splitter. Into this splitter is plugged in my 400w HPS ballast, 250w MH ballast, and my fan controller (into which my 465 cfm fan is plugged).

The other plug of the closet outlet has a power strip plugged into it. That power strip has plugged in my pH meter, my 2 airpumps, and a 3 way splitter. The splitter plugged into the power strip powers 2 fans and an 8 foot extension cord with a 3 way splitter built in. This extension cord powers the ventilation fan and my water pump (for when I do reservoir changes).

That was totally clear, right? I'll take pictures, and you can ask me about things in detail too, if you have any more questions.

12 guage wire is rated at 20 amps and should not be on a 30 amp breaker, junction boxes are also not a good idea if you dont know where all that stuff is going and whats on it, i prefer to be extra safe and just pop a breaker in just for my opp and run a seperate line with a seperate recptacle just for the whole opp.
another point is to make sure all the connections are solid, all wire nuts are tight, all screws are tight, and try and keep copper wires with copper and aluminum with aluminum

Question for you guys, are the people that work in your hydro shop total stoners with no sense of attention or responsibility, or is it just me? I swear I have to fight them to let them take my business. I hate it.

the hydro store i go to is run by a mom a pop with a little baby as well, they are both nice and helpful, they know what im up to (at least im quite sure they do) but they just keep it on the down low and treat me as a decent respected costomer, im very happy with them, it sux when people treat you like shit!

all and all great grow so far, im doing a dwc in buckets, got a plant that im lst'ing and ill end up putting in a screen later (hopefully)
cant wait to see all that bush up like mad!

 

[robotninja]

Damn, lots of SD growers up in here, Spring Valley myself.

Hey, since your in Lemon Grove, you ever eat Grinders? It's this little place where they make dank torpedo sandwiches. Get the three meat combo, makes subway look like shit.

 

[jigfresh]

Damn, lots of SD growers up in here, Spring Valley myself.

Hey, since your in Lemon Grove, you ever eat Grinders? It's this little place where they make dank torpedo sandwiches. Get the three meat combo, makes subway look like shit.

I'm up in the mountains now.... but, dude you brought back memories. That place 'grinder' is one of the earliest places I remember going. My dad loves/ loved them, he's on a permanent diet now, but anyways. Many a happy saturday were started by going to grinders. The mexican place across the street 'cotijas' is my favorite taco place.

I actually grew up pretty close to Mt. Miguel high school, so I was pretty close to spring valley. haha, that was where all my dealers lived.

It's crazy when I go back home and see how much has changed. From the 125 to all that stuff in Rancho San Diego. It's like the song 'story of my life', all the places I loved as a kid are gone, they are now a freeway.

Thanks for telling me where youre from, it makes me very happy to think of SD in a positive light. I pretty much messed things up down there for myself, so it is nice not to thing about the negatives.

 

[jigfresh]

12 guage wire is rated at 20 amps and should not be on a 30 amp breaker, junction boxes are also not a good idea if you dont know where all that stuff is going and whats on it, i prefer to be extra safe and just pop a breaker in just for my opp and run a seperate line with a seperate recptacle just for the whole opp.
another point is to make sure all the connections are solid, all wire nuts are tight, all screws are tight, and try and keep copper wires with copper and aluminum with aluminum

Very good advice. I totally agree and am looking forward to fixing the situation. The reason I haven't is that I redid the wiring for the other 3/4 ths of the house, new panel/ riser, and I was totally burnt out from doing electrical.

As shady as things are now, you should have seen how they were before. The level of security I feel after having redid even just the panel is great.

Glad you are along for the ride here, you seem like a smart one that can help me and the rest of the crew in here. We're growing some dank buds and will take all the help we can get.

Thanks a lot for the advise and support.

I attached pics. The first is of one of 9 inline splices I found.

The second where they butted two boards up together with the wire still between them.

Third and forth of old panel, then 2 of the new panel. Pretty good for someone who had never seen the inside of an outlet before and didn't even really understand electricity.

Hey ganjaboii024, do you know enough to suggest an amperage on a sub panel for the back area. Also consider that I'm going to add another room with a few more outlets onto that panel. I was thinking a 60 A would be fine, seeing as how the whole house used to be on a 100 A. Any suggestions?

 

[ganjaboii024]

Very good advice. I totally agree and am looking forward to fixing the situation. The reason I haven't is that I redid the wiring for the other 3/4 ths of the house, new panel/ riser, and I was totally burnt out from doing electrical.

As shady as things are now, you should have seen how they were before. The level of security I feel after having redid even just the panel is great.

Glad you are along for the ride here, you seem like a smart one that can help me and the rest of the crew in here. We're growing some dank buds and will take all the help we can get.

Thanks a lot for the advise and support.

I attached pics. The first is of one of 9 inline splices I found.

The second where they butted two boards up together with the wire still between them.

Third and forth of old panel, then 2 of the new panel. Pretty good for someone who had never seen the inside of an outlet before and didn't even really understand electricity.

Hey ganjaboii024, do you know enough to suggest an amperage on a sub panel for the back area. Also consider that I'm going to add another room with a few more outlets onto that panel. I was thinking a 60 A would be fine, seeing as how the whole house used to be on a 100 A. Any suggestions?

thats just a fuking hazard!! good thing you cleaned some of that up.
where abouts do you live (dont mean to sound like a nark) i noticed your pannel was outside?!?!...im in canada, all panels are inside the house, same with water heater
for a sub pannel a 60 amp is plenty, you might even find a 40 amp mini sub pannel
you did a pretty good job by the looks of it, make sure all the connects are good and tight (but not so tight where it will crimp the wire)
whats that last 30amp breaker?, looks like 14 guage wire on that...id switch out that breaker for a 15 amper or 20 if its 12 guage wire, trust me youd rather trip your breaker than burn your house down

 

[dirtystacks]

Yikes! Some scary stuff there. A friend of ours furnace went out about a month ago when her husband was out of town on business. The temps were down into sub zero and she called wanting me to come over and see if I could figure out what was wrong. They live in a house that was built in the 1940s, with lots of wiring fixes over the years. I was able to determine that the relay which operates the gas valve wasn't operating but didn't have the parts to repair. Hooked her up with some space heaters since she didn't want to take us up on the offer to come stay with us until it was fixed. Anyways...the wiring in this house makes your pictures look look AAA professional!

I'm sure there are alot of growers out there who are taking some significant electrical risks since hiring an electrician to wire your grow room is a good way to get busted. We should start an electrical thread to help our fellow medicine growers from burning down their houses!

 

[ganjaboii024]

We should start an electrical thread to help our fellow medicine growers from burning down their houses!

i love it, iv got a good background working both as a residential and commercial electrician...what category would i go about putting that thread under